


Unexpected Deliveries

by rarepairqueen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Developing Relationship, Drinking, First Dates, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarepairqueen/pseuds/rarepairqueen
Summary: Yaku's Christmas preparations take an unexpected turn when his apartment building gets a new postal worker. A new, cute, postal worker. One oversized package starts a chain of events that results in a very different Christmas Eve to what he was imagining.Not that he minds, of course.
Relationships: Haiba Lev/Yaku Morisuke, Yaku Morisuke & Kuroo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 2020 has been a weird, wild year. Between the chaotic outside world and me finishing a 4 year long project, this Christmas felt like it needed some wholesome YakuLev fluff. So here we are.
> 
> Partly inspired by my family being on a first name basis with a courier after far too many packages arrived in one week. Shoutout to all our postal workers for all they do during the busy holiday periods - especially this year of all years! 🙌

The first delivery was the one he had expected. The late November chill hung around in the hallways of the apartment building and made venturing outside distinctly undesirable. He had ordered the new textbook he needed, it saved him having to go to the campus library and back again and he could make all the notes he wanted without fear of the librarian glaring at him for returning the book with pencil scribbled in the margins.

Though he didn't anticipate it not fitting in the mailbox. If anything he was more confused than annoyed when the internal phone rang at the early hour of the morning.

"Is this Yaku-san?" The young voice asked. "This is the postal worker, your package won't fit into the mailbox, could you come and sign for it?"

He stifled the yawn that threatened to give away the fact that he was barely awake and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sure, yeah, just give me a minute. Sorry for the trouble."

"It's not a problem sir. I'll wait here."

Sighing, Yaku set the phone down and glanced at the futon that had been set up in his tiny apartment's lounge. Kuroo seemed to be still asleep, the evidence of the late-night study session still strewn across the kotatsu; amongst the food wrappers textbooks lay open and notepads were filled with frantic notes and even more frantic scribbles. The semester wasn't being kind to them as the holiday season hurtled closer.

"Oi, I'll be back in like two minutes." He said aloud, just in case Kuroo was half-awake. There was no audible response, so Yaku quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie so he didn't look completely ridiculous before collecting his keys and leaving to collect his damn package.

The hallway was bitterly cold and gloomy, the quick walk down two flights of stairs warmed him up a little but he still muttered and cursed the shipping company for whatever overzealous box they had sent his book in. Walking into the foyer, he caught sight of the rows of mailboxes mounted on the wall and the postal worker with the box in hand.

Yaku didn't recognise him, he certainly wasn't the short elderly man he had grown accustomed to seeing. This guy was tall and had a mop of silver hair underneath the red cap of his uniform. As the door from the stairwell squeaked in the cold, he turned around and smiled at Yaku. He seemed young, almost too young to be so tall. But it was his warm smile and bright eyes that caught Yaku off guard most of all.

Yaku forced a polite smile back and a nod in greeting.

"Ah, Mr Yaku-san." He greeted, holding out the box. "I apologise for dragging you down here so early."

Yaku waved his apology off. "It's okay, I'm sorry for making you wait."

Accepting the box, Yaku could already hear the crinkling of unnecessary paper padding from within. He quickly signed the clipboard offered to him and nodded in thanks.

"Have a good day Mr Yaku-san!"

"Yaku-san is fine." He snorted. "But thanks, you too. Again sorry for the hassle."

"Just part of the job." The guy beamed at him as he shrugged. "A job I'm still learning haha!"

Yaku didn't consider himself a morning person, and he certainly hadn't had enough coffee to deal with an overly happy person like this, but he felt rude not at least entertain some small talk.

"New huh? Well, word of advice," he nodded to the rows of mailboxes, "sometimes the kid in apartment twelve will accidentally write his address as thirteen. Happens a lot."

"Ah," He looked at the numbers on the boxes, "I can see that."

"And the lady in apartment twenty-four orders her cat's food online, so you might wanna hit the gym before the next order comes through." He remarked. "Came in three boxes last time."

The guy laughed. "Aha, well, thanks for the heads up." he tipped his cap. "See you around Yaku-san."

"Yeah, see you around." Yaku nodded, already opening the door to the stairwell and slipping through before he could get wrapped up in another conversation. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk more to this new stranger, but it was cold and he was tired.

He quickly got back to his apartment with box in hand and relished the warmth. Kuroo had woken up in the short time he had been away and was curious about how one textbook required a giant box. True to Yaku's prediction, the company had padded the box with scrap paper.

"That's what you get for ordering international." Kuroo remarked as Yaku cursed the ridiculousness of it all.

"Well, whatever. It's here now." Yaku sighed, flicking through the pages. "And I met the new postal worker."

"New postal worker?" Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you took so long?"

"Some kid, well, he's taller than you I'm pretty sure." Yaku shrugged. "Far too happy at being awake this early."

Kuroo snorted. "People like that exist? Ew." He glanced at Yaku. "Get a name?"

"Pft, why?" Yaku half-heartedly glared at him, not appreciating the heat rising in his face. "Why would I?"

Kuroo shrugged. "He's your postal worker."

"Look, not everyone is best friends with the guy who delivers the mail."

"Hey now, me and Bo are more than _friends_ , we're _bros_."

"That's the same—"

Kuroo sighed over dramatically. "It's fine, you don't get it."

Yaku rolled his eyes and playfully kicked Kuroo's leg. "I didn't get a name, but maybe I will one day. Don't even know if he's staying on this rotation. Said he was new, might just be filling in for the usual dude."

Yaku didn't want to think about befriending the postal worker. He had a million other things to think about than talking to strangers. There were papers and assignments due, he still needed to make plans for Christmas, he had to negotiate whether he was going home Christmas eve or not and somewhere in between all that he needed to actually go Christmas shopping.

Kuroo yawned loudly but made no show of going back to sleep. Rather, he raked a hand through his hair and stretched before asking. "So, how about I go buy us breakfast and then we finish off this mess of an essay?"

"Sure, knock yourself out." Yaku was already trying to work out what to do with the box and scrap paper.

By the time Kuroo had left in search of a coffee shop, Yaku had taken to trying to organise his hectic life. Calendar in hand, phone in the other, he noted down the remaining deadlines and plans he already had dates for. December was a cluttered hellscape already and it wasn't even _here_ yet. As he came to the realisation that he had next to no free time already until the few days before Christmas, his phone buzzed with the usual email notification that 'his package had been delivered'.

With a sigh of defeat, he decided that he was just going to order all his stuff online that year and figure out how to give out the gifts when they arrived.

He figured he was probably going to be seeing more of the new postal worker.

* * *

The second delivery wasn't entirely unexpected, but Yaku wasn't prepared to be woken up by the phone again. Partly because he forgot to set an alarm at all. He answered the phone in a state of panic and confusion. He was greeted with the same voice from a few days previously.

"Morning Yaku-san, another package won't fit in the mailbox, could you come and sign for it?"

It took him a solid second to realise whose voice it was. "Ah! Yes, hold on a minute. Sorry you caught me unprepared."

"No problem."

Shaking the sleep from his head, he scrambled to put on some clothes and grab his keys on his way out. As he walked down the stairs, he wondered what the box was. He hadn't ordered anything and he was pretty sure his mom would've at least texted him if she had sent anything this early in the month.

The door squeaked in the cold once more as he opened it. The chill from outside made him shiver in his thin jacket as he stepped into the foyer. He nodded in greeting to the postal worker. A small box was offered to him, it wasn't that much bigger than the mailbox, but the thick layers of packing tape made it just that little too bulky. He quickly realised where this box had come from.

"Ah, he was early this year." He remarked as he took it. "My cousin in Hokkaido."

The guy raised an eyebrow, his smile growing as Yaku read the shaky lettering of the address label. "Ooh? Christmas gifts already?"

"Sort of, my aunt makes all of us knitted scarves for the winter season." Yaku shrugged, accepting the pen and clipboard to sign off on the package. "Leaves it to my cousin to mail them to everyone and he usually leaves it til mid-December. Wonder what made him post them all out so early this year..."

They shared a slight laugh at the remark. Yaku handed back the clipboard and nodded in thanks. He collected the few letters that had also been delivered before turning to leave. He caught himself as he stood at the door to the stairwell.

"Hey, didn't catch your name the other day."

"Hm?" The guy cocked his head to one side. "Oh, uh, Haiba-san, but most people just call me Lev." He shrugged with an easy-going smile. Yaku wondered if he was always so upbeat.

"Lev." Yaku repeated, nodding, "well, uh I guess I'll see you around."

"Yup, the holiday season is bound to bring more oversized packages." Lev beamed. "See you around Yaku-san!"

Yaku smiled in return before making his hasty exit. He figured Lev was the sort of person he could get caught up in conversation with for hours if he wasn't careful.

It wasn't until he got back to his apartment that he actually looked at the box his cousin had sent. The shaky handwriting and copious amounts of tape had given it away. Sure enough, inside the box was the knitted scarf he had come to expect from his aunt; this year she had chosen a bright red as her colour of choice. She had also packed some sweets she had lovingly made. He read the small letter that had been stuffed inside the box as he made his morning coffee. It was made up of the usual comings and goings of the family on the northern island, how she hoped to see him sometime in the summer if his hectic schedule allowed it.

He lost himself in his day of working on class assignments and enjoying one of the few days he didn't have to leave the apartment. He was hardly left in peace though as Kuroo sent him texts throughout the day asking about Christmas party plans. Eventually the texts became so frequent that Yaku just called him instead to continue the conversation in a less tedious manner.

"And why do I have to be the one to host?" He asked, popping one of the homemade sweets into his mouth as Kuroo chuckled.

"Because your place is the closest to a train station. Also Kenma's a terrible host—"

" _Am not, you're just highly demanding._ " A voice yelled from somewhere on the other end of the phone. Yaku snorted as he imagined the scowl Kenma was giving Kuroo.

"Anyway," Kuroo returned to the conversation after a brief pause to bicker with Kenma, "plus I know you secretly love this holiday."

"That's not a reason for me to host, what four people?"

"Five."

" _Five_?" Yaku spluttered. "Kuroo you know how big my place is—"

"It'll be fine!" Kuroo laughed. "Cosy."

Yaku sighed heavily. He wasn't going to say no was he, that wouldn't do. Though he was going to make sure Kuroo didn't forget this next year. "Fine. Who exactly am I hosting?"

"Me, Kenma, Kenma's friend Inuoka – you know the guy from the bar we nearly killed that time by buying him shots?"

"I remember." Yaku uttered, he didn't _want_ to remember but he did. The entire night was a blur of drinking and terrible chat-up lines and eating takeaway ramen at five in the morning. College life sure was something, that was for sure.

"And then Bokuto, and I said he can bring a friend if he wants."

"Hang on, shouldn't that be _my_ prerogative?" Yaku remarked. "As it's _my_ apartment."

He could imagine Kuroo waving dismissively. "It's fiiiiine. Quit worrying. Look, I'll handle the food and drink part of it, you just provide us the place to hang out yeah?"

"That means decorating, doesn't it?"

"Bingo!" Kuroo was beaming, even if Yaku couldn't see the shit-eating grin. "Kenma can come and help you."

"Geez thanks for your help _Kuroo_." Yaku wryly remarked. "I guess I better get some shit ordered."

"That's the Christmas spirit!"

Yaku rolled his eyes as Kuroo went on to change the topic to something more mundane. The conversation continued for a while before Yaku was able to politely tell Kuroo to leave him alone. Kuroo of course pretended it was the worst thing anyone had ever said to him but they shared a laugh all the same.

As soon as he was able to collect his thoughts, Yaku glanced around his small apartment. Hosting people wasn't an issue, but hosting more than three in his lounge was going to be – as Kuroo said - cosy. The kotatsu could technically sit eight people but that was assuming one put it in the centre of the room and didn't have it shoved against the wall like he did. And then there was the _minor_ point that he didn't have any decorations of the Christmas variety.

It wasn't that he didn't like Christmas, he just hadn't intended to be staying in much. He had intended to visit either his parents or his cousins, not stay in Tokyo alone. He wasn't mad, a simple text to his mom would suffice, she was always insisting he spent more time with his friends anyway. That didn't exactly help on the decoration front though.

Sighing in defeat, he opened a new tab on his laptop's browser and began the age-old tradition of finding out what style of decorating was trending that year. He only intended to get enough to satisfy Kuroo's pestering, but 'a few things' turned into a few more than intended and even if the final total didn't make his eyes water, the idea of how many boxes they'd arrive in did. He chuckled slightly as he remembered Lev's remark about oversized packages. He felt a little guilty about giving the guy so much work, though Lev seemed to be a cheerful person regardless of the weather, at least that's the impression Yaku got.

* * *

He knew shipping was fast, but he was _fairly_ sure he didn't pick next day delivery. Getting up at 8am every morning wasn't what he imagined college life would be like but here he was, answering the phone again and hearing that yes, once again, the mailbox was too small. This time he wasn't even mad, he knew this was probably going to be a regular occurrence whilst the half a dozen orders made their way to his door.

It wasn't nearly as cold that morning, but he still pulled on a thick jacket for the short walk down to the foyer. Lev was there, smiling and humming softly as he slipped letters and small padded envelopes into other mailboxes.

"Ah, Yaku-san!" He greeted. "I feel like this is becoming a regular occurrence." He gestured to the box on the floor. "Sounds rattly, did ya buy a load of dice or something?"

"Ornaments." Yaku gently corrected, holding out his hand for the clipboard. "My friend talked me into being the host for the yearly get-together, so if I don't decorate I'll be crucified."

"Ooo, so what _I'm_ hearing is that this is the first of many boxes?" Lev chuckled as Yaku went through the motions of signing his name.

"Possibly. At least two more." Yaku handed back the clipboard. "I'm sorry for giving you so much work."

Lev laughed it off. "Hey, if no-one ordered anything, I'd be out of a job. As long as it's not too heavy, I'll deliver anything."

Yaku wasn't sure why hearing that brought him relief, but he caught himself smiling at the endearing nature of the other.

"Well, thanks, and I'll see you..."

"Tomorrow?" Lev supplied before laughing. "I mean, we'll see. Whenever the next delivery arrives~"

Yaku shared the laugh with him before picking up the box. He said goodbye to Lev and left without another word. True to Lev's remark, the box was rattly. He hadn't gone too overboard with the ornaments, he even managed to stick to a colour scheme of sorts, but he had bought enough to brighten up the usually bland feeling of the apartment.

The first box, of what was probably going to be many, held the glass baubles of varying shades of blue decorated with painted white snowflakes. He laughed to himself at the fact they arrived before he had time to get a tree, but hey, that gave him something to do that day after class. He set the box down and turned his thoughts to the day ahead.

Class itself was the usual mixture of genuinely interesting and slightly too long. He found his mind wandering, thinking about how many more times he'd see Lev before the end of the festive season before quickly snapping himself out of it in time to tune back into the lecture.

He had agreed to meet Kenma after classes were done at a coffee shop and then go off in search of a tree small enough to fit somewhere in his apartment. Kuroo was a _little_ bit salty that Yaku had decided to go on the one afternoon of the week that he had a non-negotiable work shift and tried to claim there was some 'secret santa' business going on. Kenma flatly denied it and told Kuroo to stop being 'so annoying'.

"Y'know, sometimes I wonder if the guy actually graduated high school sometimes." Yaku remarked as he held the door of the coffee shop open for Kenma to exit in front of him.

Kenma snorted, cradling the takeaway cup in his hands as they began walking in the general direction of the outdoor market. "It's just because it's a Christmas thing."

"I know he likes the season, but still."

"Bokuto encourages it honestly. Apparently he shows up to work legitimately dressed as santa." Kenma took a sip of his drink. "Takes a lot of pride in it."

"A postman dressed up as santa?"

"Aye." Kenma smiled. "I told Kuroo he should dress up as a reindeer and run alongside the van."

They both laughed at the visual image the remark prompted. It was a cold day in Tokyo, the sky was grey and small flurries of snow had been spotted occasionally. Shop windows were decked out in all the festive colours one could imagine, lights twinkled and flashed in displays of the newest and greatest products on sale that sold themselves as 'the best present'.

The outdoor market was bustling but not what Yaku would call hectic. There was enough space to move between the different stalls offering both traditional treats and gifts and some from abroad. They spent a while browsing the stalls and making more of an outing out of it. But as the daylight was precious, they quickly moved on and found the stall Yaku had been looking for.

Whilst he could've easily found a fake tree, he liked the idea of a small potted one. Kenma wrinkled his nose at the overbearing smell of pine around the stall manned by an elderly gentleman. Yaku didn't take long to select and purchase a small table-top tree. It had enough branches for the ornaments he had bought and that was all that mattered to him really.

Getting it home, he was quick to show Kenma the ornaments and run through his ideas for decorating. Kenma didn't show nearly as much enthusiasm as Kuroo, but Yaku almost preferred it that way. Kenma was more interested in sitting at the kotatsu and flicking through the various flyers for the local takeaways whilst Yaku finished setting the tree on the only other low table he owned.

"So how are your studies going?" Yaku asked as he took the flyer from Kenma after he finally picked between ordering sushi and fried chicken.

Kenma huffed slightly. "Got an exam next week. Kinda sucks but I'm not worried."

"Ah, yikes." Yaku tapped the number of the sushi restaurant into his phone. There was a brief pause as he called and placed the usual order he knew Kenma favoured as well as his own. Once the call was over, he picked the conversation back up again. "So close to semester end?"

"I know right, but eh," Kenma flopped back on the floor, his legs already tucked under the kotatsu's blanket, "I'll survive. What about you?"

Yaku moved about the lounge tidying stuff away as he replied. "Two assignments left and a presentation due two days before the break. Kuroo is supposedly down to hang out tomorrow and get some studying done."

"Huh, might join you." Kenma closed his eyes as he linked his fingers under his head as a makeshift pillow. "Gets lonely in my dorm building."

"I hear that." Yaku chuckled. "I like the quiet, but sometimes being on your own in a tiny box can make you go mad."

They continued talking about the remaining few weeks of the semester as Yaku tidied away things in his apartment and made them both drinks. Kenma barely moved from where he lay. A knock at the door spooked them both but Yaku quickly deduced it was probably the takeout, though usually they had to be buzzed up to the right floor, he shook it off.

He opened the door and had to do a double-take.

"Lev?" He asked, though it was quite obviously Lev, same tall stature, same grey hair, same green eyes and the same upbeat, warm smile. "I thought you were the postman."

"Evening Yaku-san!" Lev held out the takeaway bag, the logo of the restaurant printed on the side. "And yeah, I am, but I also work at my friend's family restaurant." He beamed. "Saw your address pop up and volunteered to deliver rather than send someone who could've gotten lost."

Yaku wasn't sure whether to be slightly creeped out or find it endearing. He went with the latter, offering a smile in return. There was this odd feeling in his chest, something akin to feeling nervous at having Lev on his doorstep? He wasn't sure what to make of it as he tried to figure out what to say.

"Uh well thanks, I...I wasn't expecting you, obviously." He nervously laughed, taking the bag and digging out the correct change from his pocket and handing it over. "Yeah, uh see you around I guess?" He inwardly cringed at how stupid he sounded.

"Haha, it's okay, I'd be spooked too. But hey ho! Goodnight Yaku-san." Lev waved, still smiling before immediately turning and setting off towards the stairwell.

Yaku stood a little dumbfounded for a few seconds before closing his door and turning to look at Kenma. The conversation had obviously been interesting enough for Kenma to sit up and be looking at him expectantly.

"So, that was my...postal worker." Yaku gestured to the door with his free hand, his face was burning and he still wasn't sure how to process any of what just happened. "...I wasn't expecting him."

Kenma raised an eyebrow as Yaku sat down and unpacked the bag. "The postal worker. _Oh_ , is this the guy Kuroo heard about?"

Yaku gave Kenma a curious yet guarded look. "...maybe? What did Kuroo say?"

Kenma coyly smiled, looking at his tray of sushi instead of answering Yaku's question immediately. "Uh, nothing much."

"Well good 'cause there's _nothing much_ to say."

Kenma chuckled slightly. "Uh-huh."

"I mean it, literally met him like...three days ago."

"Oh so you're counting?"

Yaku scowled slightly as Kenma quickly started eating. He decided not to take whatever bait Kenma was trying to toss to him. Though as they ate in silence, he started trying to work out where any of this had come from. He hadn't said anything about Lev to Kuroo. He hadn't even told Kuroo he found out his name. Was Kenma just being a troll like he had a reputation for?

"You just seemed more than surprised." Kenma broke the silence. "And redder, a lot redder."

"What are you trying to say?" Yaku uttered between bites.

"He seemed happy to see you." Kenma shrugged. "And I dunno, the fact he volunteered to deliver your food for you seems..." he raised his eyebrows. "He's enthusiastic."

"He's always like that."

"Hmm?"

Yaku cursed inwardly. "I've had a few oversized deliveries. Every time I see him, even at the ungodly hour of eight, he's a ray of sunshine."

Kenma slowly ate another mouthful of food, humming in reply as he nodded.

"And that's all there is to it." Yaku pointedly said.

"Alright." Kenma smiled, not giving Yaku any confidence whatsoever that he was believing a word he said.

They finished eating without bringing it up again. Yaku cleared away the empty cartons and thanked Kenma for hanging out with him all afternoon. Kenma, in true Kenma fashion, merely shrugged and said it was no bother. They agreed on a time to meet up at the library with Kuroo to do 'actual studying', as opposed to the half-hearted efforts that always occurred at one of their places, before Kenma took his leave. The bitterly cold evening air lingered in the hallway as Yaku watched him enter the stairwell.

As he tidied away the last of the trash, he found the flyer for the restaurant and was all too quickly reminded of the surprise visit from Lev. He caught himself smiling at the situation, then sighing heavily at how quickly it seemed that Kuroo had begun to speculate _things_. And now Kenma was no doubt going to stir the pot and they were going to be bringing up Lev a lot more now.

Whether it was the fact Yaku was used to this behaviour from the pair of them or not, he just accepted that this would probably blow over in a few days. He had been through this before; a cute girl would make eye contact with him for a few seconds and Kuroo immediately would start trying to talk him into getting her number. Gods only knew how many of their classmates Kuroo had thought had a thing for him. Yaku knew it came from a sense of endearment, he knew he was crap at talking to new people and Kuroo was always more confident.

But the important factor was that Kuroo never pushed it. He never _insisted_ that Yaku make a move or advance. He just _highly encouraged it_. Yaku could appreciate his efforts and support, but he wasn't really that bothered about it all.

Why he was thinking about all this now was starting to become obvious. He set the flyer down and sighed heavily, digging out his phone to check the status of the many other packages still destined for his door. Seeing the bold heading on the listing; **Status: Arriving Tomorrow** , he figured he should probably get an early night. Maybe for once he'd be awake before the internal phone started ringing...

* * *

He woke up to a string of texts from Kuroo, most of which had been sent before midnight. He lazily scrolled through each one as he wondered what had been so damn important. Most of them were Kuroo asking about final timings for meeting up later that day, a few mentioned Kenma telling him about Lev and the rest were essentially him getting salty about Yaku not replying.

So Yaku replied, at half seven in the morning, confirming the time he and Kenma had already agreed and then remarking on how he had been woken up at eight in the morning three days in a row so he wanted an early night to catch up on sleep.

He decided to play up how 'irritated' he was about the latter part, he didn't wanna give Kuroo any ideas that he was actually looking forward to the phone call.

With the texts replied to, he got out of bed and got dressed. He wasn't going to be caught half-asleep this time, he even had time to make some coffee and start mentally planning out the rest of the day. There was one assignment due the end of the week that he needed to finish up and the presentation wasn't nearly as close to being ready as he wanted it to be. He was lost in his thoughts when the phone rang.

"Morning Yaku-san!" Lev's cheery voice greeted him. "I have more packages for you, three this time!"

Yaku chuckled. "Morning Lev, I'll be down in a minute."

"Sure thing."

Yaku grabbed his keys and promptly locked the door behind him as he left. There was a strange sense of excitement about him, strange because it was so damn early yet he wasn't grumpy about it? The door creaked open and he smiled as Lev waved at him.

"Three packages eh?" He remarked as Lev finished slotting letters into other mailboxes.

"Yup, I could've crammed them in the box but," Lev shrugged as he opened his satchel and dug out the three boxes, "didn't know if they were fragile or something so thought better of it." He offered them to Yaku before quickly digging out the clipboard.

"I appreciate it." Yaku set the boxes down so he could sign the paperwork as per usual. He took a few seconds longer than usual and decided to spark up a conversation. "So, postman and food delivery, any other side gigs I should know about? Plumber? Electrician?"

Lev laughed. "No, no, though I did briefly think about it." He feigned an expression of deep thought before laughing again. "Nah, just those two." He sighed, looking at the rows of mailboxes briefly before meeting Yaku's gaze again. "Sorry if I spooked you last night, didn't mean for it to be so..." He trailed off. "You seemed startled."

Yaku snorted, giving him back the clipboard. "Like I said, wasn't expecting it to be _you_. Not that I'm complaining—" He cut himself off, already feeling his face warming up again. "If anything, I'm sorry if I seemed unappreciative."

"Ahhh no need to apologise!" Lev quickly replied, trying to wave off the apology. "Let's just let it be, so," he nodded to the boxes, "have you finally got all your stuff for your party?"

Yaku was somewhat relieved that Lev wasn't going to drag out the awkward topic. He nodded. "More or less, just need to corral a friend into helping put them up and then yeah, good to go."

"So no more packages?" Lev tilted his head slightly.

"I didn't say that." Yaku remarked. "I'm sure my family will be sending some stuff over."

"Great! I guess we'll be seeing each other some more then!" Lev grinned.

"I'm sure we will." Yaku conceded, picking up the boxes. "Well, I gotta go, agreed to meet up with some friends to finish our last few assignments of the semester."

"Ooh? Studying?"

"Yup. Third year of four." Yaku sighed. "It's a bit of a grind but enjoyable."

"Good luck, maybe when you're done with all your assignments and stuff we can hang out or something?" Lev smiled.

Yaku mirrored the smile. "Yeah, sure that'd be cool."

"Ace!" Lev beamed at him. "anyway, _I_ need to get going as well. More letters and packages to deliver."

They shared a laugh before Yaku nodded and made a beeline for the stairwell. "See you around Lev."

"See you Yaku-san!"

It took the time to get back to his apartment for Yaku to process the entire conversation had essentially boiled down to Lev asking to hang out. He was pretty sure it was in a strictly platonic sense, but that didn't stop his nerves returning and his cheeks heating up. In many other conversations with people, Yaku always felt awkward and unsure of how to keep the flow of conversation going.

Yet he found Lev almost too easy to talk to. Maybe it was because he was a total stranger who knew nothing about him. That didn't stop Yaku overthinking it of course. He sent a quick text to Kuroo merely mentioning it just to get it out of his system. Kuroo would be asleep still so that gave him a few more hours of peace and quiet.

Or so he thought.

He was barely done unpacking all the new decorations when his phone lit up with the incoming call.

" _Morisuke_ ," Kuroo's voice was sleepy but there was an edge of amusement to it, "you can't just callously mention that he asked you out and expect me not to call."

"Pft. shut up you big idiot." Yaku sighed. "He asked to 'hang out', y'know, like you and I hang out? Just a casual _friendly_ interaction."

"Psh, Kenma told me about last night. He _volunteered_ to deliver you food. FOOD YAKKUN."

"Stop yelling."

"But he delivered you _food!_ "

"Are you jealous?" Yaku quirked an eyebrow as he heard Kuroo scoff loudly. "Do you want me to deliver you food, is that it?"

"I mean I wouldn't say no to breakfast delivery." Kuroo snorted. "But stop diverting the subject. Did you say yes?"

"Well, sure, I said yes? I'm not a heartless bastard."

"Had me convinced."

"EXCUSE ME?"

Kuroo laughed loudly. "Chill, chill, okay, so he brought you food, he calls you everyday—"

"Because I had deliveries every day so far." Yaku cut in. "Stop making it sound like he's doing anything but his job."

"But Yakkun—"

Yaku pinched the bridge of his nose. "What do you want from the coffee shop?"

"The usual." Kuroo chuckled. "Swing by in like half an hour?"

"You got it."

"And Yakkun, don't think this is the last we're speaking about this."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Yaku dryly remarked before quickly ending the call.

Who needed to overthink simple interactions when he had friends like Kuroo doing all the stupid for him? He could already imagine how Kenma was going to react as well, the coy smirk that let Yaku know something is up without him having to breathe a word. It was both impressive and unsettling.

He resigned himself to a day of endless teasing which would eventually lead to Kuroo giving him a reworked version of 'the talk' and a final attempt at a pep talk for when he next saw Lev. He didn't _need_ any of it, but he wasn't going to totally shut them down. They did it because they cared, and he appreciated that.

He'd also appreciate them letting him figure out if there was anything actually worth his time before concocting schemes and speeches, if he even wanted to start looking at Lev in any light other than 'cute postal worker'.

He thought Lev was cute. As he became self-aware of that fact, he inhaled sharply.

_Oh no._

* * *

He managed to survive a four-hour study session without either Kuroo or Kenma bringing it up. He wasn't going to question it, perhaps now over the initial buzz of 'something happening', Kuroo had decided to focus on stuff that was actually important. Or maybe Kenma curtly told him to shut up about it.

Yaku figured it was probably the latter. Either way, he got his assignment done and was making good progress with the last one. Kenma had fallen asleep, arms folded on the table of the library and earphones plugging his ears. Yaku could faintly hear the gentle beat of whatever music he had been listening to before passing out. Kuroo had been suspiciously quiet the last hour, brow knitted in concentration as he typed furiously on his laptop.

The library was rather deserted considering it was the last but one week of the semester. He imagined next week it would be hard to find a table or booth given how many students would've left their work until the last minute. Outside snow was falling but not settling, the ground wasn't cold enough just yet. Yaku hoped it would hold off for another few days at least.

"Finally." Kuroo sighed, loudly tapping a few keys on his keyboard. "Done."

"Ayy, nice." Yaku smiled. "You all done now then?"

"Just gotta do a write up from my presentation yesterday and then yeah, all done until January." He sat back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. "God that was a pain in the ass."

Yaku chuckled quietly, glancing at Kenma and seeing that he was still asleep. "Should probably wake him up then."

Kuroo shrugged. "Let him sleep, I'm in no hurry to go outside."

"Wimp." Yaku remarked, glancing up from his textbook. "So what now?"

Kuroo took a few seconds to properly back up his work before closing his laptop lid and leaning his elbows on the table, propping his head up on his hands.

"Now you tell me about Lev." He coyly smiled.

"Fuck off." Yaku scoffed, turning the page of his textbook. "Nothing to tell."

"Hmmm?" Kuroo wasn't buying it. "Yakkun, you can't lie to me. I see how you're blushing."

"It's warm in here."

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "You like him, don't you?"

"I barely know him."

"That doesn't sound like a 'no' to me."

Yaku glared at Kuroo. "I met him _literally_ earlier this week. I know nothing about him other than his name and that he works two jobs."

Kuroo continued to smile at him. "Hm? So aren't you curious? He wants to hang out with you so you must've left some sort of impression."

Yaku didn't want to think into it. Lev was probably just overfriendly. For all he knew, Lev had recently moved to the area and figured making friends with people he delivered mail to was the best way to meet new people. Who was to say Lev wasn't asking to hang out with everyone he met?

"Well," he said carefully, "I guess I better get this last assignment done so I can take him up on his offer hm?"

"Oyaoya." Kuroo remarked, his smile growing before he seemed to realise something. "Wait."

"What..."

Kuroo's eyes lit up. "He's a postman."

Yaku was slightly confused. "Yes, we've covered this. Multiple times."

"Bokuto's also a postman." Kuroo said.

"Do I dare ask—"

"I can ask Bo if he knows this Lev guy and—"

"You will _not_." Yaku snorted.

"Hey, I won't get involved but y'know, if Bo can tell us some stuff about this Lev guy, maybe it'll make you less..."

"Less _what_?" Yaku gave him a pointed look.

"Stressy?"

"I'm not stressy."

"Pffft." Kuroo tried to keep his laugh quiet. "Alright, but still, he can give us the goss, the tea, the intel—"

"This isn't a spy movie you dork. This is my...uh..."

Kuroo said nothing, he didn't need to. Yaku inwardly cursed as the silence spoke for itself. Kuroo put up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, no meddling, understood." He smiled more genuinely. "But if you want, the offer is there."

"Uh-huh."

"How's decorating going?" Kuroo changed the topic quickly.

"Well, with the last few packages delivered earlier, I'm ready to put them all up later." Yaku shrugged, closing his textbook. "Gotta fold the paper ornaments together which'll be a pain."

"We can come over and help." Kuroo gestured to the still sleeping Kenma.

"Sure," Yaku smiled, "we can order takeout or something."

"From a certain sushi restaurant?"

"...sure." Yaku wasn't sure why he was agreeing to this, but maybe if Kuroo met Lev for himself, it would satisfy his curiosity.

"Aces." Kuroo turned his attention to Kenma. He gently poked the other in the arm a few times before moving onto shaking him. Kenma blinked in mild confusion as he woke up, pulling out his earphones and yawning.

"Are you both done?" He asked.

"More or less." Yaku replied, finishing putting his stuff in his bag. "Kuroo's volunteered you to come back to mine and help decorate."

"Kotatsu and sushi two nights in a row? Damn, you guys spoil me." Kenma remarked with a lazy smile.

They quickly packed up the rest of their stuff and made their way out into the cold. The snow flurries were more prominent as the daylight faded quickly. Bundled up in thick jackets and scarves, they made their way to Yaku's apartment building. As much as a hot meal would've been almost preferrable, they had promised Kenma sushi and Yaku certainly wasn't going to be able to back out now.

With the order placed and organised to arrive in an hour, Yaku opened the latest packages to arrive and the chore of decorating was greatly improved by having company around. Kenma put himself in charge of finding a playlist with a mix of festive music and personal favourites. Enthusiastic, off-key singing was always a thing, even if the three of them didn't tell anyone outside their bubble about it.

The table-top tree was quickly adorned with a string of fairy lights. The lights had managed to get tangled up within seconds of leaving their box which prompted a lot of squawking from Kuroo as he fiddled and cursed at them. Yaku stayed well out of it, deciding to unpack the glass ornaments instead. Kenma was content to watch the chaos from afar, specifically from the kotatsu. He volunteered to make a start on the paper ornaments, folding the pre-cut paper and gluing down tabs.

As Kuroo declared victory with the lights, his attention turned to the third box that had yet to be unpacked. The tinsel came in two colours; red and silver, long enough to comfortably span the length of the walls in the lounge.

"You want me to stick these up considering you're..." Kuroo wasn't going to finish his sentence as Yaku gave him a pointed look. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Sure." Yaku went back to carefully placing the ornaments on the tree. He was actually rather proud of how his little tree looked. Though he didn't have a topper. That was a minor oversight.

"Just print out a group selfie or something." Kenma remarked as he set the final finicky ornament aside. "Or order one online."

"Ooh yes, order something, get Lev to deliver it." Kuroo remarked from the corner of the room where he was sticking the last piece of tinsel up. "Great idea Kenma."

"Will you quit it?" Yaku remarked. "I'm sure Lev has many other things to deliver."

Kuroo was about to make a smartass remark but was cut off by a knock at the door. Yaku didn't hesitate to get to the door before Kuroo had any bright ideas. As he pulled the door open, he felt relief crash over him.

"Hey Lev." He smiled.

"Evening Yaku-san." Lev held up the bag from the restaurant. "Friends over again?"

"Both of them, yeah." Yaku replied. "Decorating the apartment." He gestured behind him at the small tree on the table.

"Awh, it's so cute and tiny, like you!"

Yaku wasn't sure how to react to that. He heard Kenma burst out laughing though so he could kiss his dignity goodbye. He tried to play off the mixture of confusion and flustered that was no doubt being portrayed on his face and accepted the bag from Lev.

"Oh by the way," Lev added as Yaku fished out the correct money to pay for the delivery, "I wanted to give you this."

He held out a slip of paper. Yaku internally screamed. He gave Lev the money and took the slip of paper from him.

"Just shoot me a text whenever." Lev beamed at him. Yaku couldn't help but mirror the smile back.

"Sure, I will." He pocketed the paper and nodded. "Goodnight Lev."

"Night Yaku-san~"

"You can drop the -san, it's fine."

"Oho no, not while I'm on duty." Lev winked. Yaku felt like he was going to combust at any given moment as Kenma's laughter continued. He was starting to dread what Kuroo was going to say to all this. "but yes, gotta go. See you around!"

Yaku was left standing in his doorway dumbfounded as Lev hurried off to the stairwell. As soon as the door was closed, Yaku handed the bag to Kuroo and leaned back against the closed door.

"Well." Kuroo remarked as he set the bag down on the counter. "I'm just gonna put it out there..." He smirked. "I think he likes you."

"Shut up."

"Oh pft Morisuke." Kuroo rolled his eyes. "Guy just gave you his number."

"And?!"

"And I'm pretty sure he called you cute."

"No he called the _tree_ cute."

Kenma snorted. "Pretty sure he said 'it's cute and small, just like you' so..."

"You're the worst." Yaku uttered.

Kuroo shrugged. "Well, sushi is here, so let's get those paper things on the tree and then dig into food."

Yaku nodded, he appreciated Kenma's patient work with the fiddly strips of paper as he carefully hung the small paper cranes and miniature presents on the branches of the tree. Those that were leftover were attached to the tinsel draped around the room. Soon the entire room felt a lot more festive. The lack of a tree topper was a minor point that could be fixed in an afternoon at the outdoor market.

Crowding around the kotatsu with sushi in hand, the conversation turned to the preparations on Kuroo's end for the gathering. A debate about what food to order took up most of it, mainly the idea of trying to combine both fried chicken and ramen being a horrendous one. Then it turned into Yaku insisting they didn't buy an entire liquor store's supply of spirits or sake for his own sanity and the cleanliness of his bathroom.

"Relax, we won't do shots again." Kuroo waved him off. "Just I saw some festive cocktails online—"

"Oh god." Yaku groaned.

" _Relax_." Kuroo insisted. "Okay, at least let me try _one_. And the rest of the night we can drink normal, boring drinks."

"No you make me sound like a spoilsport." Kuroo smiled sweetly at him. Yaku sensed he was in a corner. "Alright. Do whatever you want. But you can clean the bathroom the morning after."

"Deal." Kuroo offered his hand to shake. Yaku shook it firmly before returning to eating his food in relative peace.

Kuroo and Kenma both left in the late evening, there was a half-hearted agreement made to meet up for one last library session at some point but no solid date was set. Yaku was honestly just looking forward to being alone for a few hours. They helped him clean up before they left, so that was one less thing he had to do.

Finally alone, he opted to take a shower to try and clear his head a little. Too damn much had happened that day. He was starting to convince himself this was some large scheme of Kuroo's. If Bokuto had mentioned in passing about a new guy starting and Kuroo had set all this up to try and get him a date, Yaku would have to commend him. He wouldn't approve at all, but he'd be impressed.

But suppose it wasn't a scheme. Suppose Lev actually liked him? What kind of impression had he given? Had his eagerness been obvious? This had to just be a case of curiosity right?

After his shower, he dug out the slip of paper from the pocket of his pants and unfolded it. The number was written clearly and signed off with a smiley face. He sighed slightly and found his phone to send a text just as Lev had told him to. It felt stilted and dumb but he didn't let himself second guess the wording.

A reply came back to him within a few moments.

' _Yaku! Glad you could read my writing. Sorry for rushing off, had to get back to do more deliveries~ How were your friends? I wish I could've met them_ '

He sat on the edge of his bed and smiled dumbly at the message. At least it was comforting to know Lev's friendly aura carried over to his texting. He replied with a general explanation of the day, the studying and the decorating all in one and left it at that. Part of him wanted to ask what prompted Lev to hand over his number but decided against it.

' _Ahh how close are you to being done?? 'cause I'm free this weekend :) we could go last minute gift shopping! I need to buy my sister something but I'm terrible with gifts._ '

As unlikely as it was for Yaku to be entirely finished with his studies, if he got his last written assignment finished the next day he could justify spending a day not thinking about it all. A day out sounded great as long as a blizzard didn't roll in.

' _Oooh okay, well, let me know when you've finished that assignment and we can set a time :D ohoh and if your friends wanna tag along that's cool too. I haven't been in Tokyo long enough to really have many friends aside from other postal workers haha! But if you just want it to be us two...that's all cool with me ;)_ '

The last text partially confirmed Yaku's theory that Lev was just overly friendly to anyone. But the latter part of it sent a strange feeling of nervousness through him. He tried to shrug it off as a typo but made up some remark that Kuroo was working and Kenma hated going out on Saturdays because of the crowds and sent the reply. Neither were really lies, but Yaku wasn't even going to think of opening up an invitation to them just yet.

Maybe deep down he wanted it to just be him and Lev.

_'ooh gotchya!. Well as much as this is fun, I have an early start tomorrow so I need to sleep. It's rough but I do like watching the sunrise...when there's no clouds blocking it haha! So, I'll talk to you later Yaku~ Maybe even see you! Who knows? ;P'_

The fact of the matter was, everytime Yaku read the winking face, he could actually picture Lev winking at him and that made him feel more flustered than it should've. With a final text to Lev sent, wishing him goodnight, Yaku set his phone aside and rubbed his face.

He basically just agreed to go on a date of sorts. He wondered what Lev was like off the clock, was he just as enthusiastic and friendly? Was he even _more_ excitable?

He was actually looking forward to finding out.

* * *

He didn't get woken up by the internal phone ringing. He was somewhat thankful for the more natural awakening. He checked his phone and saw three texts from Lev, one of which stating he had no packages to deliver, another talking about the snow that had settled in some areas and the third was a picture of the muted sunrise behind grey clouds. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find the texts endearing. He sent a simple message back wishing him a good day before getting up. Looking outside, he saw the small amount of snow that had settled, not enough to really be a hindrance to anyone but it was enough to no doubt excite the children and prompt a few snowball fights.

He had class that day, but it wasn't until much later in the day so he could afford to be a little lazy. He was halfway through cooking breakfast when his phone started ringing. He absentmindedly answered, thinking it was Kuroo.

It was not Kuroo.

"Yaku-san!" Lev's cheery voice caught him off guard. "How are you?"

Yaku hummed for a few seconds as he made sure not to let his food burn in the pan. "Good, quiet day ahead. You?"

"Just finished my round, fancied calling and seeing if you were busy."

"Not really, cooking breakfast right now. Probably gonna work on my last assignment before final class of the week. All hideously boring stuff." He chuckled, turning off the stove. "You got any plans?"

"Just returning home now, my sister is probably getting ready for work and writing me a long list of chores to do. I don't mind it though, keeps me busy!"

Yaku raised his eyebrows as he clumsily plated up his food whilst pressing the phone to his ear with his shoulder. "You said you moved to Tokyo recently right?"

"Yup! From Osaka, where our parents are. Alisa got a new job and I offered to tag along, or...well..." He laughed. "She asked if I wanted to and our parents were very keen for me to say yes?"

Yaku knew that feeling well. "How are you finding Tokyo?"

"Different." Lev replied. "Busier for sure. But it's nice, haven't had anything bad happen, well actually..." he went on to describe a run in with a stray dog that hadn't been too happy about him taking a shortcut through an alleyway. Yaku tried not to laugh at the idea of someone of Lev's height and stature being chased by a stray dog.

"So yeah, other than _that_ , things are pretty cool." Lev finished.

"That's great, I remember moving out on my own for the first time, was scary as fuck."

"Oh, your parents don't live in Tokyo?"

"They do, just not anywhere near me." Yaku set his now empty plate aside. "And they're both busy people so I doubt I'll see them this side of Christmas now. They got my younger brothers to look after anyway and my grandparents."

"So you're on your own?" Lev's cheerful voice softened slightly.

"Not quite, got my dumbass friends coming around, remember?" He laughed. "And I'll probably make an effort to visit my family sometime before the new year."

"That's good, that you have company and you'll see them. I'm not sure what Alisa is planning for us." Lev hummed. "She has a boyfriend that she'll be seeing on Christmas eve, so I doubt we're heading back to Osaka."

Yaku had a strange idea, he refrained from voicing it. He needed to think that one over more carefully than blurting it out in a call. They continued talking for a bit, exchanging stories of their past Christmases and the shenanigans they got up to when they were younger. It left Yaku feeling warm and fuzzy inside, a strange sensation he wasn't used to getting from talking to one person.

"Anyway!" Lev sighed. Yaku had heard various sounds of doors opening and closing, signalling that Lev had made it home finally. He also heard Lev say something in greeting to someone – who he assumed was Alisa – so he figured that the call was about to end. "I'd like to keep talking but Alisa just handed me a long list of shit to do." He chuckled. "And you said you have an assignment to finish, right?"

"Pft." Yaku scoffed. "I do, I should probably get on with it."

"I'll talk to you later Yaku~"

"Yeah, talk to you later Lev."

As he finally took the phone away from his ear, the timestamp flashed up. He was mildly surprised it had been over an hour of talking. He also had three texts and a missed call from Kuroo and a text from Kenma. He decided to see what Kuroo was demanding of him now first.

_'Yo, Kenma and I are heading to the library after lunch so he can cram for his exam. You in?_ '

' _Yakkun, buddy, pal, you awake?_ '

_'Yo Morisuke, tried to call you but the line was busy...you good? I s2g if you're talking to Lev you better give me all the deets!_ '

Yaku sighed heavily, opening the text from Kenma before he even attempted to reply to any of that mess.

_'Kuro's got it in his head you're talking to Lev, so now he's talking about dragging Bokuto into some weird scheme to get you both on a date. Just thought I'd give you a warning._ '

Yaku wasn't sure what to say. He figured he'd just call Kenma instead.

"Avoiding Kuroo?" Kenma asked within a second of picking up. "Don't blame you."

"Pft," Yaku rolled his eyes, "look, I wasn't expecting Lev to call."

"So you texted him last night?"

"Well, yeah."

"Uh-huh, interesting."

"Stop smirking."

Kenma snorted. "You know me too well. So, he called you, anything scandalous or dramatic?"

"He told me about a stray dog chasing him." Yaku shrugged. "And then it was just talking about Christmas stuff. Told me how he ended up in Tokyo and stuff like that—so no, nothing scandalous or flirty or _anything_. So if you could tell Kuroo to butt out, that would be great."

"Butt out? Ooh, I've not heard you take this sorta stance before." Kenma's tone was one of indifference but Yaku wasn't letting that fool him. "Usually you're clamouring for Kuro to help you talk to people."

"Well usually it's people Kuroo himself has picked out for me so—"

"So you actually kinda like him." Kenma stated. "Like, you think he's cute or something, right?"

Yaku knew he couldn't keep aggressively denying it. As much as all this was new and slightly confusing to him, he wanted to talk about it. Kenma didn't strike many as the emotional type but he was better at reading people than most gave him credit for. Yaku found it easy to tell him things he’d rather not mention at all and Kenma wasn't the type to unnecessarily poke fun at him.

He sighed and murmured his reply. "...maybe."

"Cute." Kenma wryly remarked. "Like the tree."

"Oh shut your—"

Kenma laughed. "Do you wanna grab lunch in a bit? Kuro's got class until half twelve so we can meet him afterwards."

"I only just ate breakfast, but sure."

"Second breakfast then."

"Sounds like a deal. Let me grab my shit and I'll meet you at the usual place."

The call ended, leaving Yaku to piece together whatever remained of his thoughts. He wouldn't call the plans to see Lev a 'date', but he knew if he mentioned it to anyone, they'd assume it was. Likewise, if he asked if Lev wanted to join them for their Christmas get together, that could be seen as a date too. And call him old-fashioned, but he preferred to keep the first date strictly between the two people involved.

His gaze was drawn to the tree on the low table. The lights twinkled and danced through their rotations, warm light bouncing off and through the glass ornaments and casting shadows around the room. The tree still needed a topper, and as amusing as Kenma's idea of putting a group selfie at the top of the tree was, he figured it could be his 'excuse' to go out shopping with Lev.

That was pushed aside though as he resigned himself to the last day of class and studying for the week.

* * *

Lunch with Kenma was a stress-free ordeal. Meeting up with Kuroo at the library was a more daunting one but he didn't mention Lev, at least not at first. For the first two hours of their agreed session, they focused on their individual tasks and barely spoke beyond asking for help defining words and complaining about word count limits.

It was in the final half an hour before they had to part ways for class and exams alike that Yaku's peace was broken by another line of questioning.

"So, what did Lev have to say?" Kuroo asked as he closed the lid of his laptop.

"Nothing much." Yaku shrugged. "Just wanted to talk as he walked home from work."

Kuroo flashed Kenma a glance, Kenma said nothing, at least giving the illusion he was more interested in whatever new mobile game was on his phone.

"So he's just a postman, not a part-time student or anything?" Kuroo asked.

"Not that he mentioned." Yaku was curt in his replies. "Lives with his older sister, parents are in Osaka, fairly new to Tokyo."

"Ooh?" Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "Has he got any plans for Christmas?"

Yaku glanced up from his finished assignment. "Why?"

"Just wondering."

"I'm not inviting him."

Kuroo pouted. "Why not?"

"Because five people is enough." Yaku chuckled. "It'll be 'cosy' enough."

"But I'm sure we could figure it out." Kuroo replied. "Like you can sit on his lap or something."

"Can I at least go on a date with him first before you start with that—" Yaku quipped, stopping himself as he felt his face burning.

Kuroo's expression had shifted to one of mild amusement and surprise. Kenma's gaze was fixed on his phone but Yaku knew for a fact he was trying not to burst out laughing.

"A date? So you do like him?"

Yaku thought to hell with it. He might as well indulge Kuroo already. "Sure, maybe. He's cute and he's got this infectious cheeriness about him." He shrugged, looking anywhere but Kuroo as he hurriedly packed his stuff away. "I dunno. I feel weirdly content when I talk to him."

Kuroo, to his credit, wasn't exploding in reactions. Rather, he was quietly pensive. Kenma had glanced up to see why he was being so quiet.

"And maybe I agreed to meet up with him tomorrow." Yaku added quietly.

"You did?!" Kuroo's mild amusement grew to near excitement. "Awh! I'm so proud of you Morisuke!"

"Proud?"

"You're growing up so fast, talking to strangers and now organising your own dates." Kuroo wiped away an imaginary tear of joy.

Kenma scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Quit being so dramatic, dork." He nudged Kuroo in the side. "It's not a date, is it? You said something about last-minute shopping?"

"Yes. Exactly." Yaku nodded, feeling a little less panicked now Kenma was talking sense. "But, who knows, maybe...maybe there'll be an actual date." He shrugged. "I'm not thinking too much about it." He lied.

Kuroo smiled. "Well, whatever happens, as long as you're happy dude."

"Agreed." Kenma offered him a smile too as he stood up. "Now as lovely as this is, I have to go die in an exam."

"Good luck!" Kuroo saluted. "Godspeed."

Kenma snorted. "I'll let you both know how it goes." He grabbed his jacket and hat before leaving them.

"Seriously though," Kuroo broke the silence, "I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks." Yaku said sincerely. "I'm still not sure if he's just being over-friendly or if there's something else there. I've only known him a few days...hoping tomorrow gives me a chance to see what he's like."

Kuroo nodded. "If you need anything, just shoot me a text."

"Hopefully it won't come to that—"

"I was thinking more needing to gush about him afterwards." Kuroo remarked, laughing as Yaku's face reddened again.

"Shut up..." Yaku huffed half-heartedly. He didn't wanna get ahead of himself. They were just going to go shopping together, there was nothing more planned. Of course, he half expected things to escalate because that's just how this entire thing had gone so far.

They parted ways, Yaku to go to his final class and Kuroo to head home. He handed in his final assignment for the semester and was quick to text Lev to tell him he was now officially free. He still had a presentation to do the following week but that required very little effort to prepare for.

_'Yay~ So what time do you wanna meet tomorrow? I know you don't get up as early as I do so you can pick the time and place :P_ '

Yaku figured meeting just before midday would suffice. It wouldn't be too cold and it gave him enough time to wake up and get himself together. As for a place, the local coffee shop was a good a place as any.

' _C_ _an't wait! Already got a list of things to buy and stuff to do. Gonna be a fun day!~_ '

Yaku felt himself blushing again as he smiled at the infectious cheeriness he told Kuroo about.


	2. Chapter 2

It snowed again during the night. This time it had settled and prompted a few amusing videos to start circulating on twitter of people slipping on ice. It didn't dampen Yaku's desire to go out, but it did make him wear an extra layer. The decision to meet at a coffee shop proved to be a good call as it meant they could get a warm drink to takeaway and keep their hands from freezing.

He wasn't surprised in the slightest to find Lev there before him. He was surprised at how little the other was wearing, just a simple jacket and a hat. He wondered how Lev hadn't frozen yet.

"Morning Yaku!" Lev beamed as Yaku waved at him. "Bit chilly isn't it?"

"You're barely wearing anything you dork." Yaku snorted.

"Eh, I've been colder." Lev shrugged as he laughed and held the door open for Yaku.

One of the first observations Yaku made was that the height difference between them was going to cause him neck ache. Even just talking to him required slight craning of the neck. He was sort of used to it with Kuroo but still.

With drinks in hand, Lev was quick to start leading Yaku towards the outdoor market. It was busier than when he had visited with Kenma but not quite crowd-crushing yet. That would come later next week as the rush kicked in. That day was the usual Saturday crowd which did mean they had to keep pausing their conversation to walk around people which was a little annoying.

"So gotta say," Lev remarked as they paused for a moment, "Tokyo's market is better than Osaka's in my _humble_ opinion."

"Never been to Osaka's so can't really judge." Yaku shrugged.

"What?! I should take you next year." Lev exclaimed. "It's pretty cool, they have an ice rink in the middle of it."

As Lev rambled about a time when Alisa taught him how to ice-skate, Yaku was a little caught up on the mention of 'next year'. He nodded along as he listened to the story, laughing as Lev re-enacted a dramatic fall in the middle of the sidewalk and getting confused looks from strangers walking by.

"So yeah, Osaka's is alright but Tokyo's is just _bigger_." Lev finished. "Which means more stalls to look at and more food to eat!"

Yaku could see where this was headed. "Food stalls next then?"

"Give me the grand tour Yaku!"

With a laugh, Yaku nodded. They passed stalls selling all kinds of trinkets and gifts, ornaments and decorations. As they found the food quarter, Lev's eyes lit up. The mixture of traditional Japanese sweets and the more Western culture treats gave him plenty of choice. They spent what felt like hours stopping at each stall and ordering a variety of food, Lev trying each dish regardless of how familiar he was with it. Yaku was a little more picky with what he ate but Lev convinced him to try some new things.

Once Lev had sampled everything food-related that Tokyo's market had to offer, his mind turned to the reason they had met up in the first place.

"So, I need your help with what to buy my sister." Lev explained. "Because I've exhausted most of the usual things like giftcards, accessories and stuff like that. _Plus_ her boyfriend is probably gonna get her more personal things y'know?"

Yaku nodded, scanning the stalls they had found themselves by. "So, what is she like? Is she the kinda girl to have like..." he gestured to the air. "Colour coordinated earrings for every outfit?"

Lev laughed. "Oh yes, she's a model so of course!"

Yaku nodded slowly. "Right, so...hm."

"Ya see, that's my problem." Lev laughed again. "I think maybe something more...funny? Or just something that only I could get her y'know?"

"Something personalised maybe?" Yaku wasn't exactly renowned for his gift-giving sense. His younger brothers were easy to purchase things for, they either wanted chocolate or the latest toy being touted as the next best thing. "Why don't we walk around and see if something jumps out?"

Lev smiled warmly. "Sure thing!"

The chill in the air was barely noticeable as they walked back around the stalls. The Lev kept up a running commentary of what he thought about each stalls' offers. Yaku didn't interrupt, enjoying the company he had found and how he didn't feel like he had to keep the conversation flowing.

"Ooh." Lev halted at a stall. "What about this?"

Yaku looked over the table and shelves. Pillar candles of varying heights, colours and fragrances were on display. Some were plain, others had simple designs skin to Christmas lights and the largest of them had intricate scenes of alpine villages painstakingly painted onto them. Ribbons were wrapped around the centre of each one and tied in a fanciful bow.

"Is she a candle person?" Yaku asked.

"Sort of? Like, we have some candles but they're the cheap ones." Lev tilted his head slightly as he looked over the display. "I feel like she'd be too enamoured with the design to burn it."

"Then maybe get her a plainer looking one?"

Lev glanced back at Yaku for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, yeah. Good shout."

As Lev quickly got engaged in bartering with the salesman, Yaku glanced around the other stalls nearby. He sighted one selling decorations and ornaments and walked over to see if there was a suitable topper amongst the baubles and tinsel. He didn't really have anything in mind as he listened to the trader talking to another customer, but he found his gaze being drawn back to a particular trinket. It was a wooden black cat reaching up to bat a golden star with its paw. There was a small piece of ribbon attached to fasten around the top of the tree. It wasn't exactly a conventional topper but he liked it.

He had just finished paying for it when Lev appeared next to him with a package in hand. "Ooh whatchya buying?"

"A topper for my tree." Yaku replied. "Didn't order one with the rest of the stuff." He glanced at the package. "What did you decide on in the end?"

"Oh I got one of the sorta middle ground ones. It's got a snowy house on it and smells of pine." Lev beamed. "Hoping it reminds her of our family's home back in Russia."

"Russia?" Yaku did a double take. "Wait, you're—"

"Half." Lev didn't seem perturbed by Yaku's reaction. "Half-Russian. I don't speak any though, and I've grown up in Japan but we travelled there a few times when I was much younger to see distant relatives. Alisa remembers it better than I do haha, so I reckon this'll be a nice little nod to that."

Yaku accepted his wrapped up topper from the trader and beckoned Lev to start walking. "Huh, now you mention it, Lev is a pretty unusual name."

Lev laughed. "It's okay. Like I said, I grew up here so I consider this place my home. But I do have a certain affinity for Russia and Alisa has a pet name for me in Russian so it's sorta just present without being all there is to me, y'know?"

Yaku nodded. Lev took it as a cue to continue talking about his family, talking more about his sister and her modelling and how she's always been supportive of him, how he'll miss seeing their parents but work comes first, plus there was always new year's eve to celebrate and some more Russian-oriented traditions on other days of the year. Yaku listened intently as they continued to walk around the market.

Snow began to fall as the daylight slowly ebbed away. The lights that were strung up between the stalls and the trees twinkled in the fading light. The people around them chatted loudly amongst themselves as the streets swelled with more people. With the main objective of the day achieved, they slowly meandered out of the busy marketplace and along quieter streets of inner Tokyo.

As much as Yaku was cold, he didn't want to go home just yet. Lev was still full of cheer and conversation, his eyes bright just like the Christmas lights.

"Ah, well this has been a fun day." Lev remarked as they walked through a small park. The snow was falling faster now and settling on the snow from the night before. Yaku hadn't checked if there was going to be a storm, he had been too caught up on meeting up with Lev.

"Yeah, it's been nice to get out of the house." He replied with a smile. "It's been great."

"You're fun to hang out with Yaku, not many can stand me being so loud for so long."

"Pft." Yaku scoffed. "I like it."

There was a pause as Lev beamed at him. "Awh Yaku~" He reached out and ruffled Yaku's hair through his hat. "You're cute."

"I-uh," Yaku wasn't sure what to say. "Hey, how far away do you live?"

"Hm? Oh, uhm," Lev looked around at the buildings that surrounded the park, "uhh about an hour on foot?"

Yaku looked up at the snow falling. "I live closer, if you'd rather not trek back in this."

"Oho? Yaku-san, are you asking me to stay at yours?"

"Sure?" Yaku wasn't sure what on earth was possessing him to suggest this so quickly. "I mean, it's gonna be hell on the trains and if it gets much colder there'll be ice everywhere—"

"Ah~ You're too cute, worrying about me." Lev chuckled. "But okay, if it's not any trouble then sure."

"Pft it's nothing. I've had to basically carry Kuroo to my apartment drunk on occasion."

"Kuroo? One of your friends?"

Yaku nodded, beckoning Lev to follow him. As they walked back to his apartment he told Lev about Kuroo and how he met the other by chance at one of the college enrolment days. He also told Lev about how they met Kenma during a hectic week of cramming for exams in the library and how the trio had been friends ever since.

By the time he finished they were at his apartment door. He was thankful he kept the place neat and tidy as he unlocked the door and led Lev inside. He was quick to turn on the lights and make sure the kotatsu was on before inviting Lev to make himself at home.

"Nice little place." Lev remarked as he sat down at the kotatsu and slipped his legs under the blanket.

"Yeah, cheap but good." Yaku agreed as he opened his fridge to figure out what to do for food. "Want anything to drink?"

"Ooh, do you have hot chocolate?" Lev immediately replied.

"I do!" Yaku was quick to yank open a cupboard and grab the jar of instant powder. "And plenty of milk."

"Awh yes! You're the best host ever."

"You're not the first to say that." Yaku remarked, getting another loud laugh from Lev.

Once drinks were made, Yaku sat down at the kotatsu with Lev and turned on the tv. As they enjoyed the hot beverages, the news reporter was detailing the weather report. Snow was forecast to fall all night but not _quite_ blizzard conditions. Yaku didn't need to make a remark as Lev beat him to it.

"Huh, you were right."

"Hm?"

"About it getting colder." Lev set his empty mug down. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"Hey, the least I could do." Yaku shrugged. "Do you need to tell Alisa?"

"Oh shit." Lev's hand flew to his pocket and got his phone out. "Oh boy." He laughed nervously. "Let me call her."

Yaku muted the tv and dug his phone out of his pocket to see Kuroo had sent him three texts again. He was caught off guard by a sudden loud voice through the phone exclaiming something in what he assumed to be Russian, given Lev mentioning the pet name earlier.

"Aha hello Alisa, yes,--no I'm okay." Lev rubbed the back of his neck. "No I'm staying with a friend."

Yaku opened Kuroo's texts but didn't actually read them as Lev kept talking.

"Yeah I know, no it's okay really, just stay home with him. I'll be fine I _promise_." Lev glanced up at Yaku. "I got a really cute-- _good_ , good host."

Yaku felt his face burning. He wasn't reading the words Kuroo had written to him. He could hear Alisa's voice but not what she was saying, he imagined she was reacting to Lev's choice of words.

"Alright, I'll text you tomorrow when I leave. If you need me to pick anything up from the store just let me know yeah? Yeah, love you too!"

Yaku blinked and actually forced himself to read Kuroo's texts finally.

_'Hope you're having a fun time! Work sucks right now._ '

' _Oi I just heard there's snow forecast for tonight, don't get caught in it yeah?_ '

_'Yakkun~ I assume you're having faaaaar too much fun to reply to lil' old me so just tell me everything tomorrow yeah? :3_ '

He tapped out a somewhat frantic reply telling Kuroo that he was fine, that things were good, that he was happy with how everything had gone. He left out the part where Lev was sat in his apartment. Kuroo could find that out later.

"Ah, well, she's a little mad but I convinced her not to send her boyfriend to pick me up." Lev sighed, setting his phone down. "Sometimes I reckon she forgets that I'm an adult."

"I mean, you do have some child-like innocence about you." Yaku remarked.

"That's a good thing, I assume?"

"Yeah, it goes nicely with your...enthusiasm."

Lev laughed. "Enthusiasm. Nice way of saying I'm far too happy all the time." He winked. "If it gets too much just say, I know not everyone appreciates it."

Yaku found that easy to believe, yet he didn't want Lev to water down parts of himself. He shrugged it off and shook his head.

"Nah, you keep being. Fuck whoever says you should change."

Lev smiled at him, a more endearing smile than Yaku was used to. Green eyes met his silently, the muted TV flickered with changing graphics of the continuing news report, casting different coloured light across Lev's face. Yaku sensed he was going to say something very dumb if he didn't break the silence soon. He remembered the new topper he bought and used it as a ploy to get up and break eye contact.

He wasn't against saying dumb things, but this was all happening far too fast.

Lev watched as he unwrapped the wooden black cat and carefully attached it to the top of his humble tree. He was quite happy with how it all turned out. He was also slightly scared it was going to get wrecked when five people piled into his apartment.

"You hungry?" Yaku asked Lev. "Though with how much you ate earlier, I'd be surprised if you were."

Lev sheepishly smiled. "I mean, a light meal wouldn't be turned down?"

"Ramen?"

"Instant or homemade?"

"Pft, I may be a student but I make homemade ramen when I can." Yaku scoffed. "Wanna help?"

Lev nodded, quickly getting up and joining Yaku in the tiny kitchen area of the apartment. Ramen was one of those things Yaku could make almost blind, so it was perfect for his current distracted state of mind. Lev was by no means useless in the kitchen, once familiar with the layout and how the stove turned on he was eager to take charge almost. Yaku found it rather amusing in a way.

"Alisa comes home late some days and if her boyfriend isn't there, I cook for her." Lev said as he watched the pot of water come to a boil. "But we try to cook together if possible."

"Nice, it's usually just me here. If Kuroo and Kenma are around we order takeout because it's less effort." Yaku replied. "I do like cooking though, should do it more often."

"What about baking?"

"As in sweets and cake? Not that experienced."

"Alisa tells me that I make a pretty good chocolate cake." Lev smugly smiled. "Maybe I should make it for you sometime."

"Maybe you should." Yaku remarked.

"Hm, when's your birthday?"

"August."

"Too far away." Lev shook his head as Yaku added some chopped vegetables to the pot to simmer with the noodles. "Hm...ooh I got it." He snapped his fingers. "Christmas cake."

"I...sure." Yaku laughed a little breathlessly. He looked up at Lev and couldn't really believe this was happening with such ease. "Hey, you said you're probably not doing anything for Christmas right?"

"Mhm. Well, up until the morning of Christmas Eve I'll be doing deliveries." He nodded. "Why?"

Yaku decided to just go for it. So the apartment would be a little crammed, it would be hectic as fuck to introduce Lev to his friends, there would be a lot of teasing no doubt as well. But he was confident it would be fine.

"Wanna hang out with me and my friends on Christmas eve? That get-together I mentioned and decorated for?"

Lev's gaze snapped to his, smile lighting up the room. "You mean it?"

"Well duh, I wouldn't be offering." Yaku snorted. "I mean it. I'm sure they'll be excited to meet you."

"Heh, oh yeah? What have you told them?"

Yaku shrugged. "That you're my postal worker, that we've spoken mostly at ungodly hours of the morning...that we were hanging out today..."

Lev nodded along, stirring the pot. "Sure, I'd love to hang out with you on Christmas eve," he smiled at Yaku, "and your friends." He added pointedly.

"Great, I'll let them know—"

"Or it could be a surprise." Lev raised an eyebrow. "I can show up with an 'unexpected delivery' of sorts."

Yaku wasn't sure if Lev was talking about the cake or not. He laughed as the idea settled in his mind. "Sure, why not, it'll be a laugh."

Lev beamed. "Who's gonna be there?"

"Uh, Kuroo and Kenma, a friend of Kenma's we went drinking with once and one of Kuroo's best friends? And maybe another?" Yaku listed off. "Honestly I don't even know at this point, but Kuroo is in charge of food, I just need to host everyone."

"So it's gonna be cosy in here."

The ramen was just about done as Yaku replied. "Oh yeah. Real cosy."

Bowls were set out and the food served. This was starting to feel more and more like an unofficial date as they sat back at the kotatsu. The tv channel was changed and they laughed along with a game show as they ate. It felt good, peaceful. Yaku barely felt the nerves that he knew would eat at him if he thought about them too long.

His phone buzzed a few times, more texts from Kuroo but he ignored them as they were too caught up in commenting on the over-the-top theatrics of the game show. The snow continued to pile up outside, the wind pressed against the windows and made them both thankful for the warmth of the apartment.

As the evening drew into the night, Yaku cleared away the dishes and made them both another round of hot chocolate. Lev kept the conversation going, transitioning from the game show to how hectic work was going to be over the final few days running up to Christmas. Yaku sympathised for him, trudging through the snow and wind wasn't fun for anyone but it needed to be done.

"Well, at least it's only once a year eh?" He remarked, setting the fresh beverage down.

"Ah but then you have new year's day, valentine's day, white day...." Lev trailed off and took a generous sip of his drink, "a postman's work is never truly done, just sometimes less stressful than others."

"True." Yaku nodded. "Man now I feel bad for ordering so many packages." He laughed nervously.

"If it weren't for all those orders, we wouldn't be here." Lev reminded him, gesturing to the decorated room. "I think it's a worthy cause."

Yaku wasn't sure if Lev was just saying that to make him feel less bad or if he truly meant it. Either way, he let it go and focused more on the present. Lev yawned as he set his empty mug down again.

"Well, it's been a good day, even with the surprise snow."

"Yeah, I had fun." Yaku got up and took both mugs to the sink to wash up. "Oh I can get the spare futon out now if you want."

"Do I look that tired?"

"Maybe a just a little." Yaku glanced over his shoulder and caught Lev smiling sleepily at him. "It's cute."

"Yaku-san thinks I'm cute?" Lev hummed.

"I told you to drop the -san already." Yaku focused back on washing dishes.

There were a few moments of quiet before Lev stepped up beside him. Yaku pretended not to notice, or at least made an effort to not get distracted as he could practically feel Lev's gaze on him. Once he had put away the clean dishes, he looked up and smiled at Lev. True to his prediction, Lev was giving him an endearing smile. It made his heart swell and he wanted to laugh slightly, mainly because he wasn't sure how else to react.

"So, spare futon." Yaku reiterated, mainly to keep himself from saying anything dumb. "Do you have a preference as to where?"

Lev hummed, glancing over the lounge. "Is there any space in your room?"

"...yeah, but you don't have to share a room with me." Yaku shrugged. "Kuroo likes to tuck his feet under the kotatsu blanket when he stays. Kenma just forgoes the futon entirely and sleeps under the kotatsu."

Lev chuckled. "Ah good point. But still, I don't want to make you feel like you have to tiptoe around your kitchen if you wake up before I do."

"I highly doubt I'll wake up before you." Yaku wryly remarked. "But okay, I'll set it up in the bedroom."

Lev, to his credit, offered to help unroll the futon and get it set up at the bottom of Yaku's bed. The hour was getting late, and the day of walking and talking was catching up to both of them. Yaku insisted on letting Lev make himself comfortable before he turned out all the lights and got into bed himself.

Laying in the darkness, Yaku was vaguely reminded of the first time he, Kuroo and Kenma had a sleepover. There had been hushed conversations, a few philosophical debates about whether pigeons had feelings and ultimately they had passed out sometime around three. He wasn't sure Lev was the type to stay up talking though.

And he was right, within a few minutes of the apartment falling quiet, the gentle hum of the space heater growing quiet as it slowly powered down, Yaku heard the slow heavy breathing of someone fast asleep. He smiled to himself as he rolled over and hoped to hell he didn't forget he had a guest when he woke up the next morning.

* * *

The smell of something cooking wafted through the half ajar door. Yaku wrinkled his nose and then squinted at the light that poured in through the door. He could hear someone humming softly and the sound of the frying pan on the stove.

He wasn't struck with amnesia, but it did take him a few moments to calm his racing heart. It was Lev, in his apartment, cooking breakfast. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up and registered the futon was neatly made up and ready to be put away. With only a slight reluctance, he got out of his warm bed and pulled on some extra layers before venturing out.

Lev had turned on the heater and the kotatsu, the kitchen was lit up and it seemed like he really had made himself at home given the evidence that Yaku's fridge and cupboards had been raided.

"Morning Yaku~" Lev greeted as he noted Yaku's arrival. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." Yaku nodded, leaning on the counter as he looked at the contents of the frying pan. "Scrambled eggs?"

"Yup, I apologise but I was getting hungry." He turned the stove off. "I made enough for both of us though!"

"It's fine, I did say to make yourself at home." Yaku yawned. "How long have you been up?"

"About an hour." Lev plated up the food quickly and offered it to Yaku. "It's all good, I stayed in bed scrolling down twitter for most of it."

Yaku accepted the food offered to him and once more, they were back at the kotatsu. Lev was quick to start telling Yaku about a time he and Alisa were tasked with making breakfast for their mom's birthday and how it nearly resulted in a fire and their father having to run to the nearest McDonald’s instead.

"Hey, nothing wrong with McDonald’s breakfast." Yaku remarked.

"Yeah but we were like...ten." Lev laughed. "And my parents were strict about fast food back then. Now I end up there every week."

"I would too if I had one nearer me, or if I could be bothered." Yaku snorted. "There's a coffee shop closer that's arguably healthier so Kuroo and I end up buying food from there instead."

"Ooh you'll have to show me!"

"I mean sure, we can always head out in a bit and part ways afterwards."

"Sounds like a date." Lev beamed, Yaku returned the smile. For the time being they hung out and watched tv. Yaku was in no hurry to go out in the cold, but he couldn't keep Lev there all day. Even if Lev also showed no enthusiasm about leaving.

Even so, they bundled up again and ventured out, Lev making sure he had his wrapped-up package from the market. The snow was piled high where the snowploughs had driven through to clear the roads. Thankfully it had stopped snowing for the time being, bright sunshine reflected off the damp and icy concrete. Yaku intended just to get to the coffee shop, maybe buy a drink to takeaway and then head home. Lev had other ideas.

"Hmm Yaku?" He grinned.

"What?"

"You ever built a snowman?"

Yaku scoffed. "Of course. Why?"

Lev gestured to the park nearby, untouched snow lay beneath trees just ripe for being packed together. "Wanna build one?"

Yaku wasn't a heartless bastard, and whilst getting frosty fingers wasn't particularly fun, he wasn't going to turn down Lev. The innocent enthusiasm that he had about him was hard not smile at.

"Sure. Why not?"

Lev took his hand and practically dragged him into the empty park. Yaku let out a surprised yelp that melted into a laugh as Lev tugged him under the pine trees. He found his hand being let go as Lev knelt down and started shoving snow together. He was quick to follow suit, kneeling down on the undisturbed snow and helping to pile up enough of it to make a convincing base.

They could see their breath on the cold air as they laughed together and exchanged snow-related puns. Lev practically vibrating with excitement as he made a start on the head, leaving Yaku to continue shaping the base. People passed on the nearby street, some giving them slightly confused glances, others more endearing ones. It wasn't long before some children from the nearby neighbourhood descended on the park to build their own snowmen.

Lev was not perturbed though, he carried over the head of the snowman and carefully plonked it on top of the base Yaku had shaped. It was far from perfect, but that was part of the charm in many ways. It somehow stood taller than Yaku which he wasn't exactly thrilled about at first.

Lev just laughed when he pointed it out and insisted on taking pictures with their creation after finding some sticks and stones to 'give him some personality'. Yaku drew the line at sacrificing his own scarf for the cause.

"Alright," Lev was tapping away on his phone, a few moments later Yaku's phone buzzed to see he had been sent one of the many selfies, "coffee shop?"

"Fuck yeah, my hands are frozen." Yaku said.

"I'll warm them up." Lev didn't hesitate to grab both of Yaku's hands and hold them together between his own.

Yaku by now was far too used to this over-friendly-sort-of-flirting behaviour. He just laughed as Lev rubbed their hands together to generate some warmth. Stood there in the park together, Yaku was well and truly in the deep end. He wasn't going to try doing mental gymnastics to explain away any of this. He liked Lev. He felt happier around him, more alive and cheerful. He wanted to feel this same feeling more often.

After a few minutes of Lev warming up his hands, they were let go, well, _almost_. Lev kept hold of one of Yaku's hands as they walked out of the park, linking fingers together as they did so. Yaku would blame his red face on the cold air. Lev would say he believed him, even if he didn't.

The coffee shop was bustling but they were served quickly. Stood outside once more in the cold, Yaku savoured the warmth that the beverage offered. Lev was captivated by some crows in a nearby tree squabbling over a piece of pastry someone had tossed their way.

"Well, this won't do." Lev shrugged. "I should head home before Alisa thinks I got lost or something."

Yaku chuckled. "Sure thing, it's been fun though."

"Mhm!" Lev nodded in agreement. "I'm glad we could hang out for so long, even if it wasn't really intended."

"I am too, it's been a nice change from being alone in my apartment."

"Ah but your apartment will be cosy on Christmas Eve so don't worry." Lev winked. "I guess, assuming I have no more packages for you, I'll see you then?"

"Yeah, I don't think I have anything else arriving? Well, nothing oversized."

"We'll see eh? But just in case," Lev leaned down and placed a quick kiss on Yaku's cheek. "See you on Christmas Eve~" He backed away quickly and smiled before he started walking away.

Yaku let out a short laugh, his brain short-circuiting at the abrupt show of affection. He waved Lev off, his cheek burning as he held his drink tightly.

That was a development he hadn't anticipated.

Yaku found it hard to concentrate on anything for the rest of the day. He wasn't sure what to think or do. He tried to finalise his notes for his presentation but his thoughts kept wandering to Lev. He ended up texting Kenma because he needed some blunt honesty. He also needed to talk to someone that wasn't going to blow it out of proportion.

Kenma was less helpful than he hoped.

_'Lmao. From 0 to 100 eh? So when do we get to meet him properly?_ '

Yaku sighed. He couldn't be mad or even irritated. There was a giddy feeling in his soul as he thought about seeing Lev again. He debated ordering something online just so he could have an excuse to see the other but decided against it, mainly for his bank account's safety. He sent a slightly snarky comment back to Kenma about keeping his mouth shut and not telling Kuroo.

Though it seemed already too late as his phone started ringing.

"Morisuke!" Kuroo's voice was dripping in amusement. "So, tell me everything. You barely told me anything last night and now it's like mid-afternoon the day after. So what happened?"

"None of your damn—"

"So something _did_ happen?" Kuroo was grinning, Yaku could hear it in his voice.

"He stayed over, because of the shit weather, and we hung out. He went home around noon." Yaku wasn't lying, just omitting facts Kuroo wanted to hear. "And we're gonna hang out again sometime soon."

"Oyaoya." Kuroo teased. "Sounds like it went well then!"

"Yeah, it did. I had fun, we had fun." Yaku smiled to himself. "Anyway, I need to finish my presentation notes for tomorrow, so I'll talk to you later."

"Sure thing, and hey Morisuke?"

"Hm?"

"I'm happy for you, like, that you're making friends with new people."

"Uh-huh, don't get all sappy now."

"I'll save it for when I'm drunk then!"

"You do that." Yaku laughed.

As he ended the call, he saw a text had come through from Lev. Opening it, he remembered the picture from earlier and quickly decided to set it as his new phone background before reading Lev's latest text.

_'Morisuke~ Hope I didn't overstep any boundaries, I just really wanted to kiss you :'3 I had a lot of fun with you, and I hope we can do it again sometime! I just told Alisa about me baking a cake for Christmas and she's excited to help! So you're gonna have a Haiba-sibling-special!'_

Yaku couldn't stop himself smiling at the text. It was a strange feeling. He sent a text back assuring Lev it was fine, that he had fun too and he wasn't mad about the kiss. He stopped short of saying anything dumb or sappy, he'd rather stumble over his words in person than write them in a text. He finished off the text with a remark about looking forward to tasting this now highly anticipated cake.

He was also looking forward to seeing Lev again.

* * *

The days flew by quickly as Christmas Eve drew closer. His presentation went off without a hitch and his write up took less than an hour to complete. As he sent the final piece off to his lecturer, he sighed in relief. He was done, at least for a few weeks.

Now he could focus on the chaos that was to be his holiday season. With only two days until Christmas Eve, he was starting to get clued into Kuroo's food and drink plans. The other had already stopped by twice to 'evaluate the storage' which really meant 'eat all the snacks and drink any alcohol that was taking up valuable space'. Yaku didn't mind, Kenma and him just sat at the kotatsu playing cards whilst Kuroo loudly clattered around in the kitchen.

Two packages had arrived since he last saw Lev, neither of them too big for the mailbox, much to his disappointment, though he did find a handwritten note with them from Lev, both were short little poems of sorts that made him chuckle, he had carefully folded and hidden them both within a book on his nightstand. Both packages were addressed to him but with labels saying not to open until Christmas. He guessed they were from his parents and brothers and left it at that.

As the day of Christmas Eve dawned, he was awoken by his phone buzzing.

"Morning Yakkun!" Kuroo sounded far too awake for eleven in the morning. "I'll be arriving around two to start making food and stuff."

"Great?"

"Kenma said he'll be there sometime around four once he's fetched Inuoka. And Bokuto is showing up in the evening once he's made sure all the last-minute deliveries are gone."

"Is Bokuto bringing a friend?"

"Oh, nah, the friend has a family thing so eh. Just gonna be the five of us in total."

Yaku raised his eyebrows. "Alright. I'll get up and shower then."

Kuroo laughed but didn't keep him on the phone. Yaku was sort of thankful for that. He took the time to text Lev with the updated times before getting up and taking a shower. He wasn't nervous, he was actually quite excited to see everyone and host a party. He just wished his apartment was slightly bigger.

The decorations had managed to stay up, despite his reservations about the strength of the sticky tape. In the precious time he had before Kuroo arrived he quickly wrapped up the small gifts he had bought for everyone. He didn't really know what to get the likes of Bokuto and Inuoka so he had settled for some festive chocolate for everyone. With each box wrapped and labelled, he just had to wait for Kuroo to burst in.

And burst in he did.

"Alright!" Kuroo announced as Yaku opened the door. "We got three hours to get shit organised Yakkun, hope you're wide awake and feeling festive!"

"I think you're packing enough festive for both of us." Yaku remarked, gesturing to the Christmas sweater Kuroo was sporting that had a reindeer on it and the hate that resembled a Christmas tree. "Do I want to know—"

"Put this on." Kuroo reached into one of the bags he had come carrying and brought out a Santa hat.

Yaku didn't argue, he didn't have a Christmas sweater so this was as festive as his fashion taste allowed. He let Kuroo into the apartment and got caught up in the whirlwind that was Kuroo being overly festive. The kitchen was quickly thrown into an organised chaos as Kuroo brought out various packets of snacks and far more bottles of alcohol than Yaku thought they had agreed was going to be bought.

First and foremost though, Kuroo was adamant they were going to have fried chicken. Yaku was glad he didn't intend to try and find a takeaway to deliver, but then slightly concerned when Kuroo declared he'd be making it from scratch.

And he was going to be drinking whilst doing it.

But if Yaku wanted a calm, quiet Christmas, he wouldn't have agreed to this. So he went along with it, indulging Kuroo by drinking with him as the chicken was battered by hand and laid out to be fried when they had company over. Once the mess was cleared away and their drinks replenished, Kuroo insisted on preparing the platter of other snacks. Yaku was pretty sure they were using up every single bowl and plate he owned as half the counter was quickly populated with all manner of potato chips, nuts and fruit. He had his doubts that all of it would be eaten but figured it would keep for a few days.

Now on their fourth drink, Yaku was much more talkative, Kuroo had been blaring music form his phone for the last two hours but lowered the volume considerably as they sat by the kotatsu and drank, waiting on Kenma and Inuoka to show up.

"So, Lev." Kuroo was quick to jump to the topic of most interest.

Yaku snorted. "Yeah, what about him?"

"He stayed over?"

"Yes, in the spare futon." Yaku replied, taking a long drink. "Like you have many _many_ times."

"Yeah but, _Lev_."

"What about him? You're not really asking anything." Yaku laughed.

"You think he's cute right? What else?"

Yaku shook his head. He wasn't really drunk enough to spill his soul to Kuroo, but at the same time he wanted to talk about it. "Well, like I told you before he's got this...cheerfulness about him. Makes me feel more alive. I dunno," he shrugged, "when we talk I just find myself smiling a lot more."

"Awh!" Kuroo set his drink down with a clatter and threw his arms around Yaku. "You're so in love it's cute."

"Shut up." Yaku pushed him away as he laughed. "It's just...a thing, crush maybe."

"Naw." Kuroo drained his glass. "I wanna meet him, properly, not just at the door."

"Hah, well, I'll see if he's free next week or something." Yaku shrugged. "He gets up early for work so he's often free in the afternoon."

"Mhm." Kuroo watched as Yaku got up and took their empty glasses towards the collection of bottles. "You said he's taller than me, right?"

"Yeah," Yaku said, "found out he's half Russian, so that might have something to do with it."

"What?"

"Yeah I know right. Caught me off guard too." Yaku snorted.

Kuroo laughed. "Huh, does he know Russian?"

"Apparently not, but his sister has this pet name for him."

"Wait, you met his sister?"

Yaku rolled his eyes, carefully pouring a slighter weaker drink for them both and returning to the kotatsu. He told Kuroo about the phone call and everything Lev had said about Alisa. Kuroo sipped his drink and listened intently, he was paying more attention to how Yaku's eyes lit up and how his smile seemed more relaxed than usual. As Yaku finished, Kuroo nodded.

"For someone you only met like a week ago, you know a lot already."

"Pft." Yaku took another long sip. "He's just very open."

A little too open in some ways, but Yaku didn't mind at all. It saved him having to overthink everything and sit there guessing where they stood.

They sat and talked and drank some more as the daylight faded outside. Soon there was a knock at the door and Kenma waved in greeting. Inuoka smiled and bowed in thanks to Yaku for allowing him to attend this rather hectic gathering. Yaku waved off the formalities and invited them in. Kuroo took precisely three seconds to demand they put on festive hats from the bag he had brought. Kenma defiantly refused until Kuroo threatened to ban him from the kotatsu. So a slightly salty Kenma relented and adorned some reindeer antlers which had bells that jingled whenever he moved his head abruptly. Inuoka managed to get away with a tamer Santa hat like Yaku's. More drinks were poured and Inuoka was bombarded with questions about what he had been up to recently. Yaku was honestly just happy to not be the centre of attention for a while.

Kenma was quick to commandeer Kuroo's phone and hook it up to a wireless speaker he brought, causing the music to be louder and clearer. Now that Kuroo was sufficiently tipsy enough, he started singing along to the cheesy Christmas tunes. Inuoka joined in encouragingly, and Kenma merely tried not to laugh as he recorded the ordeal on his phone.

Yaku would be lying if he said he wasn't having fun. He snapped a quick photo of the shenanigans and sent it to Lev with the caption ' _Hope you're ready for this lunacy'_. He picked at one of the many snack bowls and watched from afar as Kuroo and Inuoka got into a very intense rendition of 12 days of Christmas.

_'Oh boy! I'm so ready. Just leaving my place btw! Got the cake and Alisa's boyfriend should be dropping me off in like...an hour? Can't wait to see you ;3_ '

Yaku let out a shaky breath. He wasn't allowed to dwell on it as the internal phone buzzed. He picked it up and got a very loud greeting and introduction rolled into one. He buzzed Bokuto through and opened the door expectantly.

The man he had heard so much about made his loud arrival, bursting into his apartment and yelling his greeting to Kuroo.

"Tetsurou!" He held out his arms.

"Ay Koutarou!" Kuroo yelled back. "Bro, this is Yaku," he pointed to Yaku and then to Kenma, "and this is Kenma, and this," he threw an arm around Inuoka, "is Inuoka! Guys, this is my bro, Bokuto."

"Also his postman." Bokuto puffed out his chest.

"Also my postman." Kuroo laughed. "Anyway, let me start mixing up that drink I was telling you about."

Yaku had his doubts that Kuroo should be trusted with anything as he got up and swayed slightly. Still, he made his way to the counter and clattered about with the many bottles laid out. Yaku decided to start cooking the chicken now that everyone was there.

Well, everyone as far as Kuroo was concerned.

The drinks continued to pour as the chicken was carefully fried. Kenma offered to help as Kuroo was far too tipsy to be responsible for hot food. Yaku didn't mind. It was nice to have such boisterous company. Once all the food was cooked and plated, he loudly called for some form of order and for everyone to 'sit the fuck down'. Kuroo laughed at Yaku 'getting bossy' but quickly changed his tune as food was put in front of him.

"Oya, before we eat," Kuroo announced, raising his glass, "a big thanks to our buddy Yaku for letting me take over his apartment for tonight," he flashed Yaku a smile as the others laughed along, "and a Merry Christmas to all of you."

"Cheers to that!" Bokuto remarked.

Glasses clinked together before they dug into the simple meal. Music continued to play through the speaker as they ate. Yaku actually lost track of time for a while as they enjoyed one another's company. The empty plates were cleared away and more drinks poured out.

"Oi, before you get too drunk." Yaku called their attention. "I wanted to give you all your gifts."

"Gifts?!" Kuroo repeated. "Morisuke, you shouldn't have!"

"Shut up." Yaku scoffed, already giving out the wrapped boxes. "It's nothing crazy don't worry."

"Thanks Yaku!" Inuoka with a smile as he tossed the wrapping paper in the trash. Bokuto abruptly hugged Yaku in thanks and Kenma was more muted like Inuoka. Kuroo of course was the over-dramatic person of the group.

"Yakkun you're so sweet!" He exclaimed. "God I feel bad for not getting you something!"

Kenma laughed. "Pft, just order something and send it here. Lev will be Santa."

"Ah yes!" Kuroo cried.

Bokuto shot Yaku a confused look. "Lev? Lev Haiba?"

"Ah," Yaku laughed nervously, "yes. He's...my postal worker."

Bokuto nodded. "I know, I work with him." He grinned, folding his arms across his chest. "You know him?"

"Uh—"

The internal phone buzzed again. Yaku could sense Kuroo and Kenma's shared confusion and anticipation rolled into one as he answered the phone and kept his answers short and sweet, or more aptly put, non-descriptive.

"Just, a special delivery." He waved off everyone's curious gazes. "You'll see."

The simple remark had increased the anticipation tenfold. Yaku tried to play off how much he was sweating as he poured himself a strong drink and downed it almost entirely by the time there was a knock at the door. He opened the door and greeted Lev with a smile.

"Merry Christmas Yaku~" Lev greeted, holding up the cake tin.

"Merry Christmas Lev." He replied, gesturing for Lev to enter.

He felt a little silly but he introduced everyone to Lev and visa versa. There were polite waves and nods in greeting. Bokuto was a lot more vocal as he waited for Lev to set the cake tin down before tackling him in a bear hug.

"Sorry I'm late, I was caught up in something." Lev chuckled. "But I bought cake! The Haiba-sibling-special. From me and Alisa to you all." He opened the cake tin to reveal a large chocolate cake decorated with snowflakes drawn in white icing covering it.

"Ay! I like this guy already Yakkun!" Kuroo called as Yaku tried to stop himself blushing at the implication.

Cutting the cake was quick and easy, and slices were passed around to everyone. Kuroo insisted that now was the perfect time to start 'properly' mixing drinks. Yaku was silently apprehensive at how strong these would end up being considering Kuroo's lack of usual coordination. Kenma made no effort to stop him adding two shots of rum to every drink. He had accepted his fate it seemed.

"Is he always like this?" Lev asked Yaku as Kuroo loudly teased Bokuto for pulling a face at the smell of rum.

"...sort of." Yaku huffed, unable to stop himself laughing slightly as they sat on the floor together watching the chaos in the kitchen escalate. "He's very merry."

Lev laughed quietly, reaching out and taking Yaku's hand in his own. The gesture didn't go unnoticed, Kenma raised an eyebrow but kept quiet, Kuroo was making enough noise already without adding gas to the fire.

Eventually drinks were passed out and Kuroo demanded everyone drank at the same time to 'get their honest feedback'.

"Why, you looking to go into bartending?" Yaku scoffed.

"Maybe." Kuroo pouted. "Don't crush my dreams!"

A shared laugh was had before everyone drank the concoction Kuroo had made up. It was strong, almost too strong. Yaku grimaced as Kenma spluttered. Inuoka nodded in appreciation and Bokuto was the loudest complainer. Lev wrinkled his nose but nodded too.

"Hm, maybe too much rum and not enough...mixer?"

"I have no idea what he put in." Yaku snorted, passing his empty glass to Bokuto to get washed up. He didn't consider himself a lightweight but Kuroo had doubled the amount of alcohol and he was already starting to feel that strange giddy feeling of drunkenness.

"How long have you been drinking?" Lev asked as Yaku linked their fingers together again.

"Since like...three?"

"So six hours?"

"More or less." Yaku shrugged as he caught Lev's gaze. The endearing made him feel more giddy inside. He mirrored it back, though he probably looked completely hammered rather than endearing. "Not all that strong though."

"Hmm." Lev glanced around and saw Kenma watching them with a calm, knowing smile. "Kenma, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Kenma nodded, "and no I'm not nearly as drunk as he is."

"Oh? Yaku's drunk?" Lev coyly smiled

Yaku scoffed from beside him. "I'm not."

"He' right, not quite." Kenma added. "But wait ‘til the shots happen."

"Noooo." Yaku sighed. "Not again."

"I sense a story." Lev looked back and forth, settling for looking to Kenma. "What about shots?"

"Oh when we took Inuoka out for his birthday, Yaku got _so wasted_ and—"

"Shut up!" Yaku groaned. "We don't need to remember."

"Oho I think we dooo." Lev playfully poked Yaku in the side and got a yelp of surprise in return. "What happened Kenma?"

"He got really drunk and made out with Kuro." Kenma said nonchalantly.

"Excuse me, but _he_ started it!" Yaku protested.

"And you were a willing participant." Kenma retorted.

Lev laughed. "Oh my my Morisuke~" he poked Yaku in the side and got another yelp. "So you've sworn off shots since?"

"Yes, because I can't trust myself _clearly_." Yaku snorted. "Stop poking me!"

"Are you ticklish?"

"M-Maybe!"

Kenma laughed. "Keep poking him. It's hilarious."

"Kenma why?"

"because it’s nice to see you relax a little." Kenma shrugged, accepting the next drink from Bokuto.

Yaku was a little more suspicious of what the next drink involved but he took it anyway, as did Lev. Another call for everyone to drink together was done. Yaku winced at the taste of sake mixed with something that it really shouldn't be mixed with. Kenma laughed as Inuoka made a similar disgusted face. Lev blinked a few times and set his empty glass down.

Things continued on the same course for a while, Kuroo would keep offering stranger and stronger drinks and Yaku felt himself becoming less and less coherent as time went on. He leaned against Lev as the music filled the air and he couldn't really hear normal conversations happening anymore. Lev didn't seem nearly as drunk as he did, but he had only been there like an hour. Still, Yaku was acutely aware of lips against his forehead occasionally, quick kisses stolen when no-one was looking.

He wasn't sure if he was meant to be kicking everyone out of his tiny apartment or not. Either way it was far too warm in the lounge. Kenma seemed to be sober enough to think about opening the main door to let in some cool, fresh air but Yaku just felt _hot_.

"I'm gonna go lie down." He murmured to Lev. "Too loud in here."

Lev nodded, watching as he got up. Kuroo was somehow not passed out drunk yet, Yaku suspected that he hadn't been drinking the concoctions he had forced on everyone else.

His room felt a great deal quieter than the lounge, even with the door cracked open. He lay down on the bed and let his eyes close. He felt too warm, but in a good way, a happy buzzed way. Part of him felt bad for leaving Lev out there but he knew the others wouldn't be assholes. He just needed a few moments to himself to stop the room spinning and his stomach turning.

He wasn't sure how long he was led there, but he became aware of someone entering. Kenma's hand pressed against his forehead, cool to the touch and damp.

"What time is it?" He murmured.

"Nearly midnight. Things have calmed down." Kenma told him. "I just washed up most of the glasses and now everyone is chilling with hot chocolate and doing bad karaoke."

"Good."

"Lev's a cool guy." Kenma remarked, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Can see why you like him."

Yaku lazily smiled in the darkness. "He is, pretty cute too."

Kenma chuckled quietly. "C'mon, you should get up and drink something that isn't booze."

Yaku agreed, his head was spinning a little as he stood up but Kenma gently coaxed him back into the bright lights of the lounge. The kotatsu had been pulled out from the wall to make room for everyone to sit around it. He was greeted with lazy, half-drunk smiles as he sat down next to Lev. He almost got the sense that some sort of interrogation had been happening, not that it lasted long as Kuroo immediately changed the song and started doing bad renditions of classic Christmas songs. Bokuto and Inuoka joined in whilst Kenma filmed it for future blackmailing purposes.

"Are you okay?" Lev murmured in his ear.

"Yeah just drank too much too quickly." Yaku nodded, leaning against him and resting his head against Lev's arm. "Just needed to slow down."

Lev moved his arm until it was wrapped around Yaku, fingertips toying with the hem of his shirt. "It's okay, those were pretty hard drinks."

"That's Kuroo for you." Yaku remarked.

Lev hummed. "I'll have to get Alisa's boyfriend to show me some cool drinks. He works in a bar in downtown."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll host a party like this one." He smiled at Yaku, completely ignoring the bad singing. "You can meet Alisa and everything!"

"I'd like that." Yaku smiled back at him.

"She's very keen to meet you." Lev chuckled. "But there's no rush. It's not like..." he trailed off, getting distracted by sudden movement. Yaku was slower to react to Kuroo stumbling around like a new-born deer but when he caught up to what was happening, he looked above him and saw a small sprig of greenery being held over him and Lev.

"Oyaoya!" Kuroo called. "caught under the mistletoe, now you gotta kiss!"

"Oh you fucking asshole." Yaku cussed, making to grab Kuroo but missing entirely. "Why do you even have that?!"

"Don't question it!"

"I _am_."

Lev laughed as Kuroo kept just out of reach of Yaku, still holding the mistletoe above them. The others made no effort to help or hinder Yaku, merely enjoying the chaos that was exploding in front of them.

"I think you protest too much." Lev remarked, getting an incredulous expression from Yaku.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, are you that opposed to kissing me?"

Yaku felt his face burning, Kuroo started laughing as Lev shrugged. With little else to say or do, Yaku scoffed at the situation. He didn't get a chance to argue before Lev leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. He wasn't surprised, more disbelieving that Kuroo had sprung such a stupid stunt and it _worked_.

"It's a Christmas Eve miracle!" Kuroo swooned.

Yaku glared at Kuroo. "I'm going to murder you Tetsurou, just you wait."

"Oooh so scared." Kuroo laughed.

Kenma, ever the voice of reason and limited maturity, stood up and confiscated the mistletoe from Kuroo. Yaku sighed in defeat, like it or not, Kuroo had done him a favour in a way. He would've preferred it if he _hadn't_ but what was done was done. The music was still playing and there was hot chocolate to be drunk.

As midnight came and went, sleep became the next most desired thing, which prompted a new problem.

"There's no way everyone is fitting around the kotatsu." Lev murmured to Yaku as the last remnants of food and drink were either thrown away or put in the fridge.

Yaku knew this. He knew the spare futon wouldn't be able to be rolled out anywhere other than his room either. He sighed slightly.

Why bother with the futon at all?

"...this might seem sudden, but you just wanna share my bed?"

Lev at least pretended to think on it for a few moments. "Sure, if you want me to."

Yaku didn't bother to play off his blushing face. "Yeah, I do."

Once he had made sure everyone had plenty of water on hand and blankets to match, Yaku left them to talk until they passed out. Lev was already in his room, sat in the middle of the bed shirtless. Yaku's still slightly tipsy brain wasn't doing him many favours as he stripped and fell into bed with a sigh.

"I'm sorry my friends are dumbasses." He murmured as Lev lay next to him in the dark.

"They're fun." Lev replied. "I like them, though I'll confess..." He reached out and found Yaku's hand. "I'm the one who brought the mistletoe."

Yaku laughed, trying to cover his mouth with his other hand. "Oh god." He sighed. "Alright, you're gonna fit in just fine."

"I hope so." Lev shuffled closer. "I know it's all been really fast but..." he squeezed Yaku's hand. "I'm glad it's happened. I'm glad we had that chance meeting and...yeah. I'm just really happy."

Yaku rolled over until he was nestled in Lev's hold. "Me too."

"Best Christmas ever."

"I'm sure we can do better with more planning and less lunacy." Yaku murmured, feeling Lev's arm wrap around him. "But yes, best Christmas."

"Sleep well Morisuke~" Lev whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Yaku's head.

"You too Lev." He murmured, already feeling drowsy. "Merry Christmas."


End file.
